Cycling:Dutch lender Rabobank has ended its 17-year sponsorship of professional cycling, saying it had lost faith in the sport's leaders to clean up following the Lance Armstrong doping scandal.
Rabobank is the biggest backer of Dutch professional cycling, with total sponsorship worth €15 million a year in a nation with as many bikes as people.
Its decision shows the damage being done to cycling after the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) said seven times Tour de France winner Armstrong took part in and organised a sophisticated doping scheme on his way to success.
“We are no longer convinced that the international professional world of cycling can make this a clean and fair sport. We are not confident that this will change for the better in the foreseeable future,” said Rabobank board member Bert Bruggink in a statement.
“The Usada report was the final straw,” he added later in a press conference televised live in the Netherlands.
“The international sport of cycling is not only sick, the sickness goes up to the highest levels,” he said.
Sportswear company Nike and brewer Anheuser-Busch
dropped their sponsorship of Armstrong this week, and the sport must show it can tackle doping effectively to prevent more of its backers from quitting.
Meanwhile, the International Cycling Union (UCI) are expected to give their reaction on Monday to Usada’s ruling
“On this occasion, UCI president Mr Pat McQuaid will inform on the UCI position concerning the Usada (US Anti-Doping Agency) decision on the Armstrong case,” the UCI said in a statement announcing a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland.